Allie - Day 5

I laughed so hard I cried today, on multiple occasions. Today was such a blast.
VBS today included the ABC’s of salvation, so we were really excited, but also pretty anxious about the weight of what we were about to teach. We met in our classroom as a group and prayed over what would be said for the day. Holly was teaching; she has already taught VBS this year back in Brentwood, so I think she was pretty confident about what she had to say. I was expecting the kids to act like they had acted every other day so far: rambunctious and wild. But they sat still and listened attentively, interacting with Holly and answering all her questions…it was ridiculous, I was so surprised! After the talk, we had several kids who wanted to become Christians. It was such an awesome experience to walk by and see Jared talking to Gervon, Kyle talking to Ronald, and Holly talking to Jayda about becoming a Christian. Thank God for what He did in those kids hearts today! And who knows what kind of lives they are living, and what homes they are going back to. God’s word never returns empty, so even if we didn’t get to see the fruits of it, seeds were planted today.
We painted the Parks and Rec building again today-most of the painting we have left is just trim at the top, and we only have three ladders, so there wasn’t much that all of us could do. After we worked for a few hours, we left and jumped in the ocean to wash off a little of the paint. One of my “laughing until tears” moments happened out there with everyone. I was doubled over I was laughing so hard. I love that feeling.
Later that night we held the service at Cruz Bay. Doug, Jeff, and Jared led our music by playing guitar and playing the drum. Apparently, we sing our songs faster than the congregation at Cruz Bay usually sings them. We were so out of rhythm with each other, I could not stop laughing. Our guys were trying to slow down, then speed up, then stay on tempo…I was crying in my pew trying to keep singing the words. Jared got to give his testimony tonight, too. It was awesome to see him up behind a pulpit in front of a congregation, talking about his faith. It fit him very well, I was really really proud of him.
John’s message was so good tonight, too! Earlier that day he had asked us how to pronounce a person’s name in the Bible, Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. I told him how to pronounce it because I had studied it not too long ago. Then later when he got up to say it in front of the church, it came out sounding something like “mifeebosho.” I let out a huge “HA!” in the middle of him talking, I was so embarrassed! Luckily they laughed about it. We ate at Morgan’s Mango and ended the night with a meeting on the beach. We woke up a few times during the night to a torrential downpour, which was definitely amplified by the tarps covering our tents. Once again I was reminded of how powerful the Lord is, but also how safe I was under His careful eye.
Thank goodness that my Lord is a God who sees.